Lacing-hook.



PATENTED MAY 3, 1904.

J. V. WASHBURNE.

LAOING HOOK.

APPLoATIoN FILED 00T. a, 190s.

N0 MODEL.

ivo. 759,049.

lllirn STATES Patented May 3, 1904.

Parnu rines.

ILAClNG-HOOK..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. "759,049, dated May 3, 1904.

Application led October 8, 1903.v

To all 'LU/min t nuty concern: A

Be itlrnown that i, Janes V. lVAsHBUi-mn, a citizen of the United States, residing at W aterbury, Yin the county of New Haven and Stato of Connecticut, have invented an lmprovement in Laeing-lvloolrs, of which the following is a specilication.

My invention relates to devices employed in conjunction with laces for fastening' and holding' together the lacing edges of slices or garments with the object of increasing the efliciency, reducing the cost, and lossening the liability of the correlated parts in devices of similar character in this art separating or ln'eaking under strain; and my invention ein" bodies a modification of the fiat pivotal lacing-hook and headed-post devices shown and described in my application for Letters Patent of even date herewith, filed October 8, 1903, Serial No. 176,237.

In carrying out my invention I provide a bifurcated post and. a hook device having' a pivotal relation with the post. The post has penetrating prongs which diverge and are overturned to engage the material of a shoe or garment and which posts come immediately at opposite sides of the pivotal connection with the hook and which when outwardly lient, as connected to the material, lie lat next the stockings or other garments near the flesh and produce no inconvenience. The prongs of the post also come intermediate of the extreme diameter of the hook. The post may be headed or the end rounded, and the hook is oiiset, curved, or bent from a fiat plane.` Consequently while employing posts that are alike the hooks are made rights and lofts for the opposite edges of the shoe-uppers or garnient.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of the upper or ankle portion of a shoe provided with the fastenings of my invention applied thereto at the upper portions of the shoe uppers `or quarters. Fig. 2 is a plan in larger size of the post and hook. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of .a form of the post and hook with the post connected to material and the hook bearing against the surface thereof.

Serial No. 176,238. (No model.)

Fig. fl is an edge elevation of the hook shown in Fig. 3 and section of the material. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the simpler form of post. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of a form of post and hook with the post connected to material and the hook bearing upon the surface of the material.

The post is composed of a bifurcated stem t of two prongs, preferably formed by cutting longitudinally into a round bar. The outer exterior faces 2 are rounded, and the opposite inner faces 3 are fiat, and these latter faces at the ends diverge sharply to points at the outer faces 2. The post, Fig. 5, is simply a round bar, with a rounded end e to form the head portion. ln Fig. 3 the bar has been formed with a head a, with edges that extend beyond the prongs. ln Fig. the post is also formed with a head ai; but the head is of a different surface configuration from the head in Fig. 3. .ln the posts of Figs. 3 and 6, however, the bifurcation-groove is shown as in vthe same plane as the under surface of the head. Consequently when the head and hook are in position the portion of the hook which passes through the bifnrcation-groove is pressed down into the material, and the inaterial exerts a friction on this pivotal part of the hook to prevent the same moving too freely and also assists in holding the hook when not in use approximately in the dotted position, Fig. 3.

Figs. 3, 4:, andG, represents layers of niaterial to which the post is connected.

c, Figs. 2, 3, and 1l, and c, Fig. 6, represont the hooks. The lioolr c is provided with a point or engaging portion Ll. a pivot portion 5, and an intermediate offset or bent portion 6, the pivot portion being produced by cutting out of the material of the hook an aperture .through which one of the prongs of the post passes. There is therefore formed in the hook an integral bar passing through the bifurcation-groove of the post, so that the prongs of the post come immediately at opposite sides of the pivotal connection of the hook and the post comes intermediate of the extreme d1- aineter of the hook.

The hook c' is curved, so that the outer edge lies closely adjacent to or against the material Z). In Fig. 3 I have shown a lace c' as passing around the engaging portion 4 or point of the hook c. rIhis offset hook is peculiar in that when the bent portion thereof on the under side touches the material the central portion is raised for the free passage of the lace z', while the eXtreme point comes in contact with the material, so as to prevent either clothing or the lower end of a dress or skirt engaging the hook, as from Fig. 4 the location of the parts will be apparent, the same showing the point in contact with the material.

In Fig. l, CZ d represent Vthe shoe uppers or quarters; e, eyelets of usual construction; f, the series of lacing devices according to my invention, while represents the lace employed, passing first through the eyelets c and then engaging the lacing devices f. These lacing devices are at the upper end of the shoe and eXtend along so much of the shoe uppers or quarters as is usually entirely unlaced in taking off or putting on the shoe.

In my present invention the posts are all alike; but the hooks are made as rights and lefts, and from Figs. 3 and 6 it will be apparent that the pressure of the material upon the bearing portion of the hooks has a tendency to keep the hooks to one side and prevent them accidentally turning over. In the operation of connecting the posts to material the prongs of the post turn steady and true and the rounded outer surfaces bear against the leather or other material and because of their configuration do not cut in, and at the same time the flat inner surfaces, which come toward the stockings, the body, or other garments, do not produce any appreciable pressure or inconvenience, especially when the same are covered over with another layer of fabric or material.

I claim as my inventionl. A fastening for laced shoes or garments, comprising a bifurcated post with adjacent opposite penetrating prongs which diverge and turn over to engage the material,and a hook device including a substantial body portion having a pivotal relation with the post, the hook being bent appreciably out of a plane bringing the pointed end of the hook close to the material and the prongs of the post coming immediately at opposite sides of the pivotal connection with the hook.

2. A fastening for laced shoes or garments, comprisinga bifurcated post with adjacent opposite penetrating prongs which diverge and turn over to engage the material, a hook device including a substantial body portion having a pivotal relation with the post, the hook being' bent appreciably out of a plane, bringing the pointed end of the hook close to the material and the prongs of the post coming immediately at opposite sides of the pivotal connection with the hook, and in which the post comes intermediate of the extreme diameter of the hook.

3. A fastening for laced shoes or garments, comprising a bifurcated headed post and a hook device having a pivotal relation with the post and the hook having portions bent so as to be out of a plane, the post having penetrating prongs which diverge and turn over to engage the material, and in which said penetrating prongs have rounded outer surfaces to bear against the material, and opposite or inner surfaces that are flat and exposed at the turned-over portions. Y

4. A fastening device for laced shoes or garments, comprising a bifurcated post and a hook device having a pivotal relation with the post, the hook device stamped out of sheet metal and bent slightly out of a plane, and the post having penetrating prongs which come immediately at opposite sides of the pivotal connection with the hook and intermediate of the extreme diameter of the hook and when fastened to material force the pivotal connection of the hook down into the material so that the pressure'of the material thereon has a frictional function in controlling the position of the hook.

5. A fastening device for laced shoes or garments, comprising a hook device having an engaging portion, a pivot or integral bar along one edge formed by producing an aperture in the metal, and an intermediate offset portion, and a bifurcated post having penetrating prongs between which the pivot of the hook is received and journaled to swing, the said post-prongs coming immediately at opposite sides of the pivotal connection with the hook and intermediate of the eXtreme diameter of the hook.

6. A fastening device for laced shoes or garments, comprising a hook device having an engaging portion, a pivot or integral bar along one edge formed by producing an aperture in the metal, andan intermediate offset portion, and a bifurcated post having penetrating prongs and a head portion with the bifurcation-groove in the same plane as the under surface of the head, the pivot portion of the hook being received in the bifurcated groove between the penetrating prongs and therein journaled to swing, the said post-prongs coming immediately at opposite sides of the pivotal connection with the hook and intermediate of the extreme diameter of the hook.

7. A fastening for laced shoes or garments, comprising a post with penetrating prongs, and a hook device having an engaging portion, and a pivotal portion along one edge formed IOO IIOS

IIO

by producing an aperture in the metal7 and the post intermediate of the extreme diameter an intermediate portion notin a common plane of the hook. IO With the aforesaid portions, the said pivotal Signed by me this 5th day ot' October, 1903. portion being' within the extreme Vdiameter of A Y the hook, tlie pivotal portion of the hook be- JAS' V' AHBURNE ing received and journaled between tbe prongs WVitneSSeS:

of the post, which prongs come immediately Gino. T. PINCKNEY,

at opposite sides or' said pivotal portion and S. T. HAVILAND. 

